Crashing down around me

He smirked at me, seeming to notice my effort to look appealing, and extended his arm. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
I weaved my arm through his, holding tight as we walked down the bustling hallway and through the maze of people.
“Jared!” I heard a sweet voice ring through the din, reaching us at our current location somewhere in the maze of hallways I had yet to memorize.
“Vana!!!” Jared jumped in excitement, letting go of me and running towards a small girl with platinum blonde hair. He picked her up and swung her around, leaving people cursing as they had to push their way around them. Then I saw her pointing at me, Jared leading her over and laying an arm around her waist.
“Vana, this is my new friend Violet. Violet, this is my girlfriend Vana. Vana’s locker is two down from yours. Ferrah has the one in the middle of the two.” He indicated to each of us in turn, and smiling as if we would all be the best of friends. And standing there in the irritated crowd in my new plaid uniform skirt and starched shirt, I couldn’t help but to believe him.
“Van, Violet plays the bass. And the piano. And she sings!” Jared told the smiling blonde. “Hey babe? Can you please take her to her locker? I’m going to be late.” He told Vana, not even waiting for an answer before pushing off together and running in the opposite direction.
We looked at each other and shrugged; walking off in the direction he had shoved us in.
“So you play any instruments?” I asked her, taking note of what Jared had told her about me and reasoning that she must have some interest.
“Yep!” She smiled happily, her love for music shining through as she pulled me down the hallway. “I play guitar. My friend Ferrah plays the drums. We were planning to make a band. Got any interest?” She looked at me inquisitively, gauging my response before it even left my mouth.
“Wow! I’d love to! My best friend Scarlett and I had always planned on starting a band but never really got the chance. In Bellevue there’s not much of a music scene. We wanted to change that. My bass is named Mindy. My piano is Luna.” I told her, babbling on, loving the first girl-to-girl contact I’d had since I moved here.
She looked at me, excitement showing through her features.
“My guitar is Celest. The drums are Lexi.” She told me, hooking our arms and skipping down the hall in a cloud of excitement.
When we reached out lockers, Vana pulled me to mine, number two forty seven, then stepped to the right to number two forty nine. As I loaded my locker and she unloaded hers, we chatted about my life. Why I had moved here, where I had come from, old friends, hobbies. She asked a lot about my dancing, seeming intrigued by the fact that I had danced in several major productions all over the U.S.
Thankfully, once I said my parents had died, she left that subject alone, seeing that I still couldn’t really talk about it, and asked about everything else. Vana was out there, brave and blunt. She reminded me a bit of Scarlett in that way.
Once I finished telling her about dancing in Swan Lake, she reached over and grabbed my schedule, comparing my class list to hers. We had four classes together, one on days 1, 3, and 5 and three on days 2, 4, and 6.
“Vanaaaaa!” a sing-songy voice started to serenade my new friend. I turned to see a tall girl with bright red hair that no dye could match. Her bright jade eyes were large and perfectly corresponded with her puffy pink lips.
She skipped to a stop in front of us, landing one foot forward with a hand on her cocked hip.
“Hi. I’m Ferrah. Who are you?” She looked at me with child like curiosity, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
“I’m –“ I started to introduce myself to Vana’s friend when she unceremoniously cut me off.
“Ferrah! This is Violet! Duh! Everyone knows Violet! She’s in one of your classes today. Calculus. You better make sure Ms. Moore isn’t her normal nasty self to my new friend!” Vana then turned to me. “Vi, this is Ferrah. She’s the one I told you about who plays the drums. Fer, Violet is going to be in our band! She plays the bass and piano. And I was thinking she should be the lead singer because you can’t even carry a tune and I sound like a dying bat.” Vana’s mouth went off, rapidly spitting out introductions and instructions.
Ferrah looked at me, an eyebrow raised before she broke out in a huge smile, seeming to accept me into their group. “That’s okay with you right? You don’t have to sing if you don’t want to.” She looked at me, measuring my facial expressions before I let out a “Sure!”
Ferrah smiled and winked at Vana. “I think we found ourselves a keeper.” She stage whispered. I smiled at this. I wasn’t expecting to make friends so soon and know I have three. I didn’t think I would fit in with the southern California kids because I was so clearly a NorCal girl.
Vana stole my attention from my thoughts when she hooked an arm around my shoulders. “You know, Vi, it’s SoCal or NoCal.” She smiled at me, reminding my how happy I was not to be alone.